Trump administration presented Gaza peace plan to Arab leaders
By Kylie Atwood, Kristen Holmes, Jennifer Hansler, CNN
(CNN) — The Trump administration proposed a 21-point peace plan to end the war in Gaza to Arab leaders on Tuesday, which led to an exchange of ideas among the leaders over how to agree on a final proposal that could potentially drive an end the conflict, according to a senior administration official and regional sources familiar with the matter.
On Wednesday US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff expressed confidence that there would be “some sort of breakthrough” in the coming day but did not go into details.
“We had a very productive session,” Witkoff said of the meeting between President Donald Trump and the US delegation and the Arab leaders.
“We presented what we call the Trump 21-point plan for peace in the Mideast, in Gaza,” Witkoff said at the Concordia summit in New York.
“I think it addresses Israeli concerns, as well as the concerns of all the neighbors in the region,” Witkoff added. “And we’re hopeful, and I might say even confident, that in the coming days, we’ll be able to announce some sort of breakthrough.”
The plan that the US proposed included a number of points that the administration has made publicly, including the release of all hostages and a permanent ceasefire, according to a separate source briefed on the matter. It also outlined a framework for how Gaza can be governed without Hamas and included a proposal for Israel gradually withdrawing from the Gaza strip, the source said.
The regional leaders endorsed large parts of Trump’s plan but made suggestions on provisions they want added, according to two regional diplomats. They made a series of points that they wanted to be included in any final plan for Gaza, including: no annexation of the West Bank by Israel, maintaining the current status quo for Jerusalem, ending the war in Gaza and bringing back all the hostages held by Hamas, increased humanitarian aid to Gaza and addressing Israeli’s illegal settlements, one of the regional sources explained.
“The meeting was super useful,” said one of the diplomats, explaining that details were addressed.
The new momentum comes after Israel carried out a deadly strike against Hamas in Doha, which halted all ongoing talks through intermediaries between Hamas and Israel. During a trip to the region following that strike, Secretary of State Marco Rubio injected some urgency into the need for a negotiated settlement, saying “time is running out” to reach a deal to end the war.
The Qataris significantly offered this week in the meeting with Trump to continue playing a mediating role if they received assurances that there would not be any future Israeli strikes in their country following Israel’s strike earlier this month, one of the regional sources said.
The leaders agreed that they would meet again with the Trump administration to address the ongoing efforts, and that meeting took place with Rubio on Wednesday. Rubio said at the beginning of that meeting that “very important work is ongoing, even as we speak” with regard to a future for Gaza and the Palestinian people.
European governments received a readout of the general plan that the Trump administration put forward and two European diplomats told CNN they believed it represented an authentic renewed effort to drive an end to the conflict. One of those officials added that the overall plan could prevent Israel from further annexing the West Bank, citing that action as something that would make it virtually impossible to expand the Abraham accords, which is a cited goal of the Trump administration.
The new Trump administration proposal was put on the table with Gulf partners just the day after Saudi Arabia and France hosted a two-state solution conference which the US boycotted, citing opposition to the recognition of a Palestinian state which Trump has said would reward Hamas.
The-CNN-Wire
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